<p id=”par-1_63″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/oprah-winfrey/?swcfpc=1″>Oprah Winfrey</a> remained preoccupied with her weight for decades. Ever since the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/prince-harry-now-regrets-oprah-winfrey-interview-meghan-feels-differently-royal-author-says.html/”>talk show legend</a> entered the public eye in 1984, fans and critics have scrutinized her body’s highs and lows. Winfrey reached her heaviest, 237 pounds, in 1992. Four years prior, she’d lost 67 pounds utilizing a now-controversial liquid diet. As the diet industry has transformed, so has the now 70-year-old. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Oprah-Winfrey-1992.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”American talk show host Oprah Winfrey wears a black dress at an awards show in 1992″ class=”wp-image-3694355″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Oprah Winfrey at the American Museum of the Moving Image Awards on March 19, 1992 | Oscar Abolafia/TPLP/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_56″>Perhaps the most exciting time in her weight loss journey is now. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/oprahs-stomach-illness-due-ozempic.html/”>Winfrey started taking semaglutide</a>, an antidiabetic and an anti-obesity medication, sometime in 2023. She began dropping noticeable pounds as she attended media events and TV productions. Currently, <em>The Color Purple</em> producer’s goal weight is 160 pounds, which she hopes to maintain long-term, reports <a href=”https://www.today.com/health/diet-fitness/oprah-winfrey-weight-loss-drug-rcna128714″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Today</a>. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Oprah-Winfrey-NAACP-Awards.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a purple dress, Oprah Winfrey speaks onstage during the 55th Annual NAACP Awards” class=”wp-image-3694357″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Oprah Winfrey at the 55th Annual NAACP Awards on March 16, 2024 in LA | Kevin Winter/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-3_63″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/oprah-winfrey-worried-winning-oscar-changed-halle-berry.html/?swcfpc=1″>Oprah</a> acknowledged the “absolute miracle” of her heart still pumping in her seventies. She hopes to live a “more vital and vibrant life” since her pre-diabetes diagnosis in 2019, reports <a href=”https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-reveals-weight-loss-medication-exclusive-8414552″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>People</a>. At that time, she joined Weight Watchers, eventually ascending to a director position as she lost 42 pounds and sent her blood pressure and blood sugar levels back to a normal range.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-3″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Oprah-Winfrey.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a mustard colored sweater, Oprah Winfrey waves to fans before entering ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ studios” class=”wp-image-3694359″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Oprah Winfrey outside ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on March 14, 2024 | RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_83″>Winfrey continued her health journey, undergoing knee surgery in 2021 and incorporating more activity into her everyday life. She began recommending weight loss drugs to others before considering them herself. According to People, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/oprah-winfrey-unusual-concerns-love-scenes-forest-whitaker-the-butler.html/?swcfpc=1″><em>The Butler</em> star</a>‘s turning point occurred during her panel conversation, “The State of Weight,” where she heard from weight loss clinicians and experts. “I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control.” </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-4″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Oprah.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a black mini-dress, Oprah Winfrey walks onstage at the 66th Grammy Awards” class=”wp-image-3694360″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Oprah Winfrey at the 66th Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024 | Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-5_41″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/oprah-winfrey-split-17-million-montecito-estate-sold-2-famous-friends.html/?swcfpc=1″>Oprah</a> continued, “Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it’s about the brain.” She began taking semaglutide, describing it as “relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-5″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Oprah-Winfrey-Weight-Watchers-2000.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Wearing a green jumpsuit, Oprah Winfrey speaks during Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour presented by Weight Watchers” class=”wp-image-3694358″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Oprah Winfrey speaks during her 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour presented by Weight Watchers Reimagined on January 25, 2020 | Paras Griffin/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-6_43″>In February 2024, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/quinta-brunson-didnt-get-oprahs-permission-play-weird-the-al-yankovic-story.html/?swcfpc=1″>Winfrey</a> exited her directorship on WeightWatchers’ board after nearly 10 years. Both sides explained that it was not a contentious departure. The TV producer donated all of her WeightWatchers stock to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.</p>